I had a prospective customer call me today at my software company (MyFBO.com). Speaking with a prospect is a normal task for me and usually would not be something to write about. However, this prospect made a statement I have not heard in at least 5 years. He said “I have been in business for years and I am maybe interested in this whole Internet thing”.
I never thought in year 2006 I would have to debate the value of having a web site with a prospect. When I told him that if he just wanted a web site I could set him up for as little as $99 and $10 per month, his reaction was “that sounds expensive” and “what about all these free web sites I hear advertised?”
I started to think this was a prank call. It wasn’t, he gave me his real name and phone number. Although he’ll probably never read this post, I’ll call him Mr. X just in case he ever gets “interested in this whole Internet thing”.
Anyway, I started to think what if there are more Mr. X’s out there? Are there really people who think they don’t need a web site? If you are one of those people here are some stats:
205,326,680 - Number of Internet Users in US*
68.6 % - Percentage of US Population that Are Internet Users*
115.3 % - Internet Annual Growth Percentage in the US*
64% - Percentage of US Households with Internet Connection**
45.15% - Percentage of US Household with Broadband Connection***
62.4% - Percent of Internet Users with At Least Some College****
47% - Percent of Internet Users that Earn More Than $50,000****
69.7% - Percentage of Internet Users that use the Internet to Search for Specific Information****
The stats go on and on. As you can read there is no debate; you should have a web site. If you need help getting started I will be happy to help.
Finally, for you Mr. X’s out there, here is a free aviation web site (http://gabizjournal.com/biz/free.zip), but remember you get what you pay for.
Sources:
*www.internetworldstats.com
**www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3587496
***www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0403/
****http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey-1998-10/
Hey, that was interesting,
Thanks for writing about a free aviation website,
Thanks
Posted by: Website Development in London | January 13, 2010 at 11:01 AM